These are both 2-Gang 2-socket units, and I’m wondering if anyone knows of any 1-Gang 2-Sokets units that work with Home Assistant. My office only has a single 1-Gang 1-socket unit and so a while ago I picked up a 1-Gang to 2-socket unit from screwfix. This works great, except I’ve mounted a couple of smart plugs with energy monitoring to the outlets and the box itself doesn’t actually sit flush with the wall. This leads the whole thing to stick out a decent space from the wall.
As mentioned before; I’m wondering if anyone knows of 1-Gang 2 socket/outlet units which I could replace my current setup with. Even better if it has energy monitoring but a simple smart switch letting me control the outlouts could be fine.
What about a smart 3 or 4 gang extension lead plugged into you existing single socket ?
I could use an extension lead, it’s more about the sheer amount of power I’d be pumping through it that concerns me. I have UPS’s pulling ~300 Watts total connected to the dual socket (part of the reason for energy monitoring) and I’ve always been concerned about pulling that much wattage over 1 extension lead, 2 sockets on one line probably isn’t great either tbh but I’m less concerned about that.
Or you could replace the single socket with a double and new back box and then you could fit any double smart socket.
I could maybe get a new back box, I’d still have the issue of only 1 power cable going into the box that would then need to serve two sockets. My understanding is (and I wasn’t the one to wire the current socket, only heard this from the installer) that 1 power cable goes into the socket unit and then the socket unit itself splits that out into 2 socket outlets.
It’s not an issue at all. That’s how sockets are wired - 1 wire feeds either a single or double socket. The socket itself splits the voltage across both outlets.
The reason you might find 2 wires behind any socket is because of ring mains wiring. Essentially the same wire loops from one socket to another to distribute power. Basically, all your sockets are hooked up to a single wire, which ends up back at the consumer unit where it started.
Note the above is an oversimplified explanation & mostly ignores spurs, but the point remains. Just replace the backbox (get the deepest one you can buy) & use a double socket.
I’ve never come across double sockets with power monitoring, but you can get double output modules which go inside the backbox and support power monitoring.
I’ve never come across double sockets with power monitoring, but you can get double output modules which go inside the backbox and support power monitoring.
The Knightsbridge socket I linked to in my first message supports energy monitoring (at least according to the product marketing and a different thread I found on this forum)
An extension lead can handle 13A total, 3120W at 240V.
If you have the socket on a ring circuit, or a spur off a ring, fitting a double would allow 2x 13A. If it’s a radial, probably 16A total for the socket, depending on your distribution board.
Either way, as said above, changing to a double would not be an issue
I use lots of Aurora Aone sockets, they are ZigBee and have power monitoring.
Honeslty not sure, they’re both 1500VA/900W units (at least, I have 3 total in the house, 2 are older models so I don’t know what their VA/W ratings are but my best guess has been 1500VA/900W. I pull at most 300W through them at any given time (according to the readings I’m getting from my current energy monitoring plugs.
I use lots of Aurora Aone sockets, they are ZigBee and have power monitoring.
I’ll take a look at these, I would prefer zigbee devices rather than wifi models tbh as that’s fewer devices using wifi slowing down the network. Particularly because I have one big network and no way to set VLANS so all devices operate at the slowest peer and smart devices can be slow.